


Russian Delights

by theadventurouswriter



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Romance, F/F, Food, Getting to Know Each Other, I bet Villanelle makes good borsch, Im pretty sure this AU is what nobody asked for, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Soft Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-22 19:42:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21307547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theadventurouswriter/pseuds/theadventurouswriter
Summary: Eve Polastri found a deli that was near her workplace for coffee.ORThe AU where Eve is an M15 worker and Villanelle is the owner of a Russian delicatessen. I'm so sorry.
Relationships: Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova
Comments: 12
Kudos: 94





	1. How Do You Do?

**Author's Note:**

> Been thinking about this AU for god knows what long ever since I started watching Killing Eve. Here it is and enjoy.  
P.S: First chapter is short and sweet but I will be writing longer chapters after this one.

Eve Polastri was beginning a new job at MI5 as a psychology consultant. Her job was to assist in the profiling of domestic criminals in the psychology department. She was looking forward to working in a job where her multiple degrees were finally being used for.

The job was a fresh start for Eve after her loving husband Niko died in a car accident in Poland on a family trip, a year ago. Eve was devastated by the loss of her Niko and decided to move to Liverpool from London to start a clean slate in life. She sold the house and everything that came with it.

Her former boss Carolyn Martens had transferred Eve to the MI5 department at the docks in Liverpool which Eve had happily accepted. She missed her former co-workers Kenny, Elena and Hugo whom she had worked with since the case of The Ghost but she needed the change.

However, Eve always started her day of work with a good coffee but as she was new to the area where her new job was, she had to find a good café that had good coffee. She had Yelp! to help her with the search for good coffee and that search culminated in glowing reviews for a café. The café was a deli that was a one second walk from the MI5 headquarters. Russian Delights was a deli that specialised in Russian food and wares. The coffee and the owners were what made Russian Delights popular with Liverpudlians.

It was a bleary Monday morning and Eve had gotten up at four am before she went off for a brisk run and returned to the apartment where she showered and left for work. She was eager to see what the fuss was about with Russian Delights.

Eve had her wild and curly hair tied up in a ponytail as she wore grey suitpants with a blouse and a sweater for work. As it was cold, Eve wore her khaki trenchcoat and navy scarf as she walked towards the little deli where the shopfront was adorned with red lettering for the shop name.

The Asian woman pushed the glass door forward and entered the deli, she began to smell incense burning and the environment was homely. Eve began to like the deli already as she walked towards the coffee counter where a red-haired young girl was wiping down the coffee machine.

“What can I get you?” The girl asked with a welcoming smile on her face as she waited for Eve’s order.

“A large cappuccino with one sugar, please.” Eve said with confidence in her voice, she was already liking the young girl who appeared to be Russian by the looks of her and her voice as well.

“Coming up.” The girl nodded with confirmation and went to work to get Eve’s coffee made for her.

Eve was scrolling through her Facebook page on her phone when she heard a heavy Russian accent talking to her. She lifted her head up and saw a honey-blond haired woman with piercing brown eyes looking at her. Eve began to feel uncomfortable with the intensity of the Russian’s stare towards her.

“Good morning. I see that you are new.” The Russian woman said in a heavy Russian accent with a cat-like smile on her face. Eve felt uncomfortable by now, she wanted to grab her coffee and go to work soon enough.

“Well, yeah..” Eve said while trying not to sound uncomfortable in front of the woman. She wanted the woman to go away but it was apparent that the Russian wasn’t going to go away.

“First time here?” The woman asked once again, eager to know her new customer who was a worker from the MI5 headquarters next door to her business. The deli had a lot of regular customers from the M15. Eve remembered that Carolyn had mentioned the deli when she was on a work trip to Liverpool with MI16 at the same time as The Ghost was killing off politicians. 

“Yeah..” Eve said hesistantly, feeling small as the woman was currently burning holes into her head with her intense gaze. This woman was worse than the mugshots of criminals that Eve had seen in her career.

“My name is Oksana Astankova, I own this deli. How do you do?” Oksana said politely but she then felt Eve’s discomfort with her by reading her body language. Oksana softened up to be more approachable to her new customer who had good hair. Eve still felt uncomfortable by Oksana and her big brown eyes. 

“Um, I’m Eve.” Eve introduced herself and saw that Oksana was still giving her the intense smile since she stepped into the deli.

“That’s Irina who is making your coffee for you. My half-sister.” Oksana pointed to the red-haired girl who was working on the machine. Eve gave Irina a smile but Oksana saw that Eve was comfortable with her half-sister and not with her.

“Hi Eve.” Irina smiled.

“Ma’am, your coffee’s ready.” Irina said as she put the lid on the cup that contained Eve’s sustenance for the day.

“Thanks.” Eve thanked Irina before putting a five pound note on the counter before leaving.

“Have a good day, Eve.” Oksana said but she was ignored by the black-haired Asian and watched her leave the deli. Oksana suddenly felt sad.

Irina rolled her eyes the minute after Eve left the deli. She liked the new customer but she was annoyed at how her half-sister scared her off with her stare. Irina wanted Oksana to drop the stare that she always gave to new customers before Russian Delights go out of business because of her.

“You made her uncomfortable, Villanelle. I doubt it that she will come back.” Irina said with disdain tinged in her voice. She liked Eve already and was sad that she probably would never come back to the deli again. Oksana scoffed at how true Irina was honest in her response. She knew that Irina had good people skills and she didn't, the red-haired girl got along better with the customers ever since Konstantin had bought the deli.

“Shut up and go to school.” Oksana grumbled at her half-sister who sighed as she cleaned up the machine for Vasily to work for the rest of the day. Irina left for school.

Oksana Astankova’s morning had been made. A beautiful Asian woman with the most amazing hair had come into the deli to get coffee before work but Oksana was sad that she had scared her off already. However, the young Russian was hopeful that Eve would come back, the next day. She just had to wait for Eve.


	2. Mm That's Good Coffee

After she walked out of the deli, Eve let out a sigh of relief. The blonde Russian woman made her feel like she was being interrogated with her piercing cat-like brown eyes staring into her soul. Eve could swear that Oksana had the ability to peer into her soul.

Eve was sitting in the staff room, waiting for seven am to come. She was nursing her takeaway coffee cup in her hands as she thought about the child-like deli owner until a brash Scouse accent broke the silence. An olive-skinned agent appeared in the breakroom. She had black straight hair tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing a black worksuit that fit her well. The agent was assigned to orientate Eve to the department on her first day on the job.

“Did you get your coffee from Russian Delights?” The olive-skinned female agent asked Eve when she saw the signature red coffee cup in Eve’s hands. She smirked as she saw Eve’s faraway look.

“Yeah?” Eve was cautious around new people and the agent was no different.

“Mm, that’s good coffee. You know, Miranda has a tab for everyone’s coffee from there.” The agent said approvingly of Eve’s choice of coffee before pointing out that the department had a tab for Russian Delights.

“Oh. I’m sure it’s good but I don’t think I’ll go back there again.” Eve let out a nervous chuckle and the agent cocked up an eyebrow as she was intrigued to why Eve wouldn’t go back to Russian Delights until she realised it. The agent was chuckling with a smile on her face, showing off white and straight teeth. 

“Did Oksana scare you?” The agent was blunt in her question and it took Eve by surprise. She stammered briefly before going quiet to think about her response about Oksana after what happened earlier on in the morning. 

“Yeah, she kept staring at me like I was being interrogated.” Eve finally said in a clear sentence as she thought about the encounter with the owner of Russian Delights. There was something about the young Russian woman who had brown cat-like eyes and soft facial features along with a sharp jawline. She remembered her honey-blonde hair being tied back in a bun at the back of her head as she wore a cream sweater with khaki trousers and Doc Martens. Eve also remember the intense gaze that Oksana gave her as she spoke to her. Oksana was a very attractive woman and Eve didn’t want to tell herself that she found her good-looking.

“She doesn’t mean to do it, she has big eyes that make her look like she’s staring at you. Oksana is a sweet person once you get to know her.” The agent defended Oksana. The entire department had known Oksana and her family since the opening of Russian Delights. Eve could see that Oksana was in the department’s good books due to her coffee.

“Oh.” Eve choked out in surprise at how the agent spoke of Oksana, the Russian Delights owner that intimidated Eve when she came for her coffee.

“Just give her a chance but that coffee is good, though.” The agent gave Eve a smile to show her that Oksana wasn’t a bad person.

“Okay.” Eve nodded, realising that she hadn’t given the deli owner a chance.

“Anyway, my name’s Kat. You must be Eve Polastri from London?” The agent had finally changed the topic before she introduced herself to Eve before sticking out her hand for Eve to shake.

“Yes, that is me.” Eve smiled as she returned the shake before getting up from the table.

“Come on, I’ll show you the department.” Kat gestured the door for Eve to lead the way into the offices. Eve sighed quietly in relief after the conversation that she had with Kat about the deli owner next door.

Meanwhile next door in Russian Delights, Oksana was mulling over her encounter with the beautiful Asian customer who entered her deli as she wiped down the table. Vasily, the daytime barista, was cleaning the counter after the morning rush. He saw that Oksana was deep in thought as she wiped down the tables after the breakfast service.

“Villanelle, what are you thinking about?” Vasily called out from behind the counter as he finished off with wiping the counter down.

Vasily Baranovsky was Oksana’s close friend who knew the real Oksana Astankova. He came to the UK from Moscow after finishing a business degree and start a new life until he came across the young woman in a bar on a night out. Ever since, Vasily had been happily working with Oksana in Russian Delights. He was happy that Oksana and her family’s business was popular in Liverpool.

“How to get you finally fired after all.” Oksana deadpanned while not looking at Vasily and she rolled her eyes when she heard Vasily’s hearty chuckle. Vasily knew Oksana was joking in her own way.

“Ha, that’s very funny but we both know I am needed here.” Vasily stated in a matter of fact tone to put Oksana in her place after her comment.

“Irina says you scared off a new customer this morning.” Vasily continued, bringing up the conversation that he had with Irina before she went off to school for the day. Vasily had become close friends with Konstantin Vasiliev and his two daughters over the two years of knowing Oksana. Naturally, Oksana and Irina were like sisters to him that he never had as he had two older brothers who were successful business people in America and Australia.

“She needs to keep her mouth shut and mind her own business.” Oksana rolled her eyes at how Irina liked to be upfront with what she tells Vasily about things with Oksana. She would never admit that she adores her younger half-sister and she enjoyed the banter with the red-headed teenager.

“Also, Irina told me that you stared at the door after the customer left.” Vasily snickered as he also pointed out the fact that Oksana was pining for Eve after she had left the deli.

“Alright Vasily, I do not care about what Irina says. She’s a stupid little girl.” Oksana grumbled, annoyed with what Irina told Vasily about what happened earlier on in the morning.

“Irina is nearly eighteen but she is right in what she tells me. She is not stupid.” The mustachoed man said with a firm tone in his Russian-lilted voice, he was never afraid to keep putting the young woman into her place if she needed to.

“Возвращайся на работу, Василий” (Go back to work, Vasily) Oksana said in Russian, annoyed with the fact that Vasily was right and she again rolled her eyes at Vasily who was chuckling away.

When Vasily finished up wiping down the counter, he disappeared to the storage room to get more coffee beans for the machine in time for the lunch rush. Oksana was finally alone in her thoughts. These thoughts consisted of the beautiful Asian woman named Eve who had come into her deli for the first time. Oksana wanted to run her hands through Eve’s amazing black wild hair which she wanted to be the one to take it out of the ponytail and see it in its full glory. She wanted to touch her face and tell that she meant no harm when Eve became uncomfortable with her gaze.

Then, the thoughts of Eve took a turn and Oksana began to think of Anna which she forcefully shook away from her mind. Eve was definitely not Anna at all. She was just Eve, the worker from MI5. Oksana felt a warm feeling begin to bloom within her body as she continued to think of Eve, the beautiful Asian from next door.

Oksana couldn’t wait for Friday’s delivery of weekly coffee to the M15 headquarters that was next door to Russian Delights. She wanted to be the one to see Eve in the building and wanted to see the smile that she gave Irina. She wanted to make Eve feel comfortable with her every time she was in Russian Delights to get her morning sustenance.

Eve’s first day at work, apart from the deli owner staring at her, went like a breeze and Eve was finally happy. Kat helped her to settle into the forensic psychology department where she was going to work with her boss Miranda Hartman and three other people including Kat. To Eve, Kat was a godsend but she was no Elena Felton. Eve was eager for tomorrow begin and officially start working as a forensic psychoanalyst.

Kat’s statement about Oksana was true. Eve hadn’t given the Russian Delights owner a chance and she was going to go back to the deli before work and make it right. Even, the owner’s cat-like eyes make her feel like she was small than she was. Eve Polastri was going to give Oksana Astankova a chance.


	3. Hello Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angsty chapter ;)

Irina was up early to work for an hour before school started. She was working on the coffee machine, churning out coffee for the MI5 workers who were slowly filtering into the building as the morning went on.

Eve had gotten up and did her morning routine that consisted of getting up to go for a run around the apartment blocks before coming back to get ready for the day ahead. However, Eve was dreading going into Russian Delights after the encounter with the owner, the previous morning.

Oksana opened the deli early than usual so she could make Vatrushka for Eve as a way to get her to like her. She made them quickly and put strawberry jam and cream into the pastry before plating it up and putting the pastries into the display cabinet.

When Oksana was wiping down the counter after preparing food for the workers, the glass door had had opened and she stopped to see who had come in. It was Eve.

“Good morning Eve.” Oksana said behind the counter with a cheerful smile but she was ignored by Eve who had smiled at Irina. She felt her heart dropped when Eve ignored her.

“Hi Eve! Same as yesterday?” Irina nearly squealed when Eve had come back into Russian Delights but she saw that Eve was still uncomfortable around her older half-sister. Irina nearly wanted to roll her eyes at how Oksana was fawning over the Asian customer. Papa is going to love hearing about this, Irina thought to herself.

“Morning Irina, yes please. Thanks.” Eve gave her possibly new favourite barista a smile as she gave the girl her usual coffee order. Irina went straight to work to give her customer a coffee for the day.

“Hi Oksana.” Eve said in a polite tone as she looked at Oksana but automatically, she became uncomfortable around the Russian woman who was being friendly to her. Nice job dumbass, Eve kicked herself mentally. She was being the same idiot yesterday morning. Oksana’s heart panged when she sensed Eve being uncomfortable around her once again.

“Was our coffee good for you?” Oksana asked, attempting to break ice and show Eve that she wasn’t going to hurt her.

“It was.” Eve said hesitantly, Oksana continued to pick up her body language and it was upsetting her further.

“That is good. May I offer you some pastry to bring into work with your coffee?” Oksana tried again to break the ice with Eve by offering the pastry that she had made for her.

“No thanks.” Eve said bluntly, it was a normal response for Eve who was still wary of strangers especially Oksana. She knew that Oksana was harmless but Eve wasn’t used to being offered nice things like pastry. Eve’s response was like a slap to the face for Oksana, nobody had ever rejected her pastries at her deli.

“Eve, am I making you uncomfortable? I am sorry.” Oksana confronted Eve, her voice was hoarse with emotions. It wasn’t normal for Oksana to be that quite upset over people saying no to her food but this was Eve, the beautiful Asian woman who started work next door.

“No Oksana, you’re not. I-it’s just me.” Eve faltered slightly when she felt the intense gaze burn through her soul once again. However, it was Oksana’s upfront honesty that took Eve by surprise.

“I know I scare people but please don’t feel uncomfortable around me. It makes me sad that I scare you.” Oksana pleaded with glassy eyes as she looked at Eve but it was her cherubic teary face that was making Eve’s heart lurch. Oksana was one of a kind and Eve felt terrible for making her upset. However, Eve was mentally kicking herself for continuing to be a dumb idiot.

“Just stop, okay?” Eve said bluntly without thinking clearly about her actions. Oksana was rendered silent by Eve’s response, it broke her to think that Eve hated her.

“Here’s your coffee, Eve.” Irina said quietly, seeing what happened between her half-sister and Eve. She could see how Oksana was taking it hard when Eve refused her pastry.

“Thanks Irina, have a good day.” Eve said, eager to get out of Russian Delights and try to forget about Oksana for the rest of the day. Oksana was looking at Eve like a kicked puppy as she watched Eve and Irina.

“You too.” Irina waved at Eve as she opened the door to leave the deli. Irina couldn’t wait to go to school than face the wrath of her half-sister who looked like she was going to unleash hell on the souls who entered Russian Delights.

Several hours later in the comfort of her office unit, Eve was working away on the computer in her unit when Kat came by. Kat had an amused look on her face as Eve looked up to her.

“Were you in Russian Delights?” Kat asked with humour and interest tinged in her voice. She had an eyebrow cocked up as she asked Eve whether she was in Russian Delights next door that morning.

“Yes and good morning to you, Kat.” Eve chuckled in her response to Kat’s question.

“Did you say something to Oksana?” Kat turned serious in her response as she mentioned Oksana. Eve was trying so hard to not pay attention to what she did to Oksana.

“No, why?” Eve said quietly, realising that people knew about what happening, several hours ago in Russian Delights.

“Well, Jamie from Forensics has told me that Oksana had been yelling at customers all morning. Miranda had to go and calm her down.” Kat explained with seriousness in her voice, Eve felt her face pale when Kat told her that Oksana was upset with the way Eve spoke to her.

“What?” Eve said quietly, taking in the fact that Oksana was the type of person who took things personally. She was already feeling bad about saying no to the bloody pastry but she wasn’t going to let Kat see it.

“Yeah, Oksana doesn’t take rejection well.” Kat deadpanned, looking at her freshly manicured nails. She knew that Eve said something to the deli owner but she decided to not press any further until Miranda gets Eve into her office eventually.

“Oh, god. Well, I didn’t say anything to her.” Eve lied and Kat raised her eyebrows in surprise. After a day of knowing Eve Polastri, Kat liked the woman but she knew already that Eve was a terrible liar.

“Are you sure?” Kat pressed on for the last time with a smirk on her face. She found Oksana to be incorrigible but this was the first time Kat had heard that Oksana went on a rampage because she got rejected by a woman she liked.

“Yeah!” Eve blurted out in a hushed whisper, Kat snickered to herself. She knew that Eve had said something to Oksana to make her want to yell at the poor customers who came into Russian Delights for their food.

Kat walked off back to her own desk when Miranda, Eve’s new boss approached her. Miranda Hartman reminded Eve of Carolyn but she was just as stoic as the MI6 boss whose personality was like a wooden stick, dry and hard. Miranda had her brown hair short and down while she wore a navy worksuit and a light blue blouse underneath as well as black pumps. She was the epitome of what a boss of a department should be.

“Are you Eve Polastri?” Miranda asked to confirm Eve’s identity to ensure that she was asking for the right person.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Eve said in a professional manner that she always used when bosses approached her.

“Please come into my office now.” Miranda said in a firm manner that told Eve that there was a matter that Miranda had to speak to her about in her posh office down the hallway.

“Yes.” Eve nodded as Miranda left for her office and Eve quickly got up from her office chair before walking down the hallway to Miranda’s plush office. Miranda opened the door when she saw Eve coming over to her. Eve went inside and sat down while Miranda leaned against her desk with a stern look on her face and her arms were folded.

“What happened in Russian Delights this morning?” Miranda asked in a curious tone as she looked at Eve. She wanted to get on with her day than deal with the Oksana/Eve incident that happened to the topic of the MI5 workers at the current moment.

“I just went there to get my coffee, that’s all.” Eve said, trying to hide the fact that she made Oksana upset in hopes of her new boss to not pick it up. However, it failed.

“Well, that’s not what happened.” The head of the Psychology department raised her eyebrows at Eve’s response. Miranda was already annoyed.

“Oh.” Eve choked out after realising that Miranda did get the gist about what happened at Russian Delights.

“Look, how do I put this to you?” Miranda sighed as she unfolded her arms as she knew that Eve had no idea about Oksana and her nature as a person.

“Oksana Astankova or known as Villanelle to her family and close friends is a patient of mine. I work with people like Oksana who have complex personalities.” Miranda explained to Eve about Oksana.

“Oksana was very upset when I found her screaming at a poor soul in Russian Delights after a work colleague told me.” Miranda continued after looking at Eve to give her explanation about the situation concerning her boss’ patient next door.

“Well,” Eve began to finally tell the truth to her boss who was looking down at her from the table.

“I kind of said no when she offered me pastries with my coffee.” Eve said quietly, ashamed that it went to this point in time.

“Ah.” Miranda piped up, finally relieved that Eve had finally told her the truth about what happened.

“You see, Oksana doesn’t take rejection very well. You shouldn’t have said no when she offered you a pastry.” Miranda confirmed that Oksana certainly did not take rejection well like a normal person would handle it.

“Oh.” Eve choked out in surprise with the tone that Miranda was using with her. Her new boss didn’t take any shit when it came to her patients like Oksana.

“Eve, just accept the pastry or whatever she offers you next time. I don’t want to keep coming down to Russian Delights to calm Oksana down.” Miranda’s tone was mixed with annoyance and finality to tell Eve to just take whatever Oksana offered her. Miranda had far more better things to do than talking her top patient down from a verbal rampage upon her poor customers in Russian Delights. 

“Okay.” Eve nodded.

“Go back to work.” Miranda said in a clipped tone, Eve shot up from the chair and hurried out of the office to get back to her desk.

Fuck, Eve thought about the mess that she had created. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vatrushka- Russian breakfast pastry


	4. Here's an Olive Branch?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, a lot of thought went into this chapter. This is the turning point in the growing relationship between Eve and Villanelle.

Yesterday took a toll on Oksana’s emotions after Eve rejected the pastry that she had lovingly made for her. The words Eve spoke had cut through her soul like a hot blade and her heart had shattered into a million pieces.

The rejection brought out Oksana’s ugly side which reared its head by taking its wrath on the poor customers who stepped foot into Russian Delights. Oksana had yelled at her customers as they tried to approach her and Vasily had to step in to prevent further damage to the business.

Vasily was doing the damage control until Oksana’s psychologist had to be called from next door. Miranda was in Russian Delights, a minute after getting the call from a concerned Vasily who had no idea about what had caused Oksana’s meltdown.

Miranda took Oksana away from the store front into the back so Oksana could have privacy and tell her psychologist. Through her tears, Oksana had told Miranda that a curly haired Asian was the object of her affections and she had coldly rejected the pastry. It didn’t take long for Miranda to figure who the person was and it was Eve, the new worker in her department.

Miranda assured Oksana that she would speak to her employee but however, the head of Forensic Psychology also told Oksana that it wasn’t the end of the world when Eve rejected her pastry.

After Miranda left, Oksana apologised to her customers and Vasily who all understood that the valued shop owner was having a bad day. Afterwards, she went home as she couldn’t handle being at work where Eve was in the next building.

At home in her apartment, Oksana was exhausted from her meltdown and drifted off to sleep on her sofa. Soon, the presence of Eve occupied her dreams and her presence was welcome to Oksana despite the pastry incident at Russian Delights.

_Oksana was bending down to wipe the tables when the glass door opened and she turned around to see who had entered the deli. Her face crinkled into a grin when she saw who it was. _

_Eve Polastri had entered Russian Delights. And she was wearing her magnificent black hair down. The beautiful Asian had a radiant smile that seemed to make her glow and Oksana was getting drawn to her like a moth to a light. _

_Eve was walking towards Oksana-_

Konstantin’s voice shook Oksana out of her short-lived dream about Eve.

“Oksana?” Konstantin gently shook his eldest daughter awake with his large hand that had sausage-like fingers. Oksana loved to make sausage jokes about his fingers when he was present, much to his annoyance.

“Papa?” Oksana said in confusion as she barely woke up and Konstantin let out a deep breath as Oksana sat up on the couch, giving the Russian man space on the couch.

“Miranda told me what happened.” Konstantin went straight to the point about what he was going to talk to Oksana about the pastry incident, his voice was heavily tinged with his heavy Russian accent. He was a very proud Russian man.

“Great.” Oksana was annoyed that Miranda had told Konstantion about what happened earlier on in Russian Delights with Eve. When Konstantin reprimands her, he would make her feel like she was twelve again when she got told off for fighting in the school playground.

“You had a meltdown because someone didn’t want your pastry. Are you sixteen again, Villanelle?” Konstantion said in an annoyed tone as he reprimanded his daughter. He loved V but she always frustrated him with her childish behaviour despite Oksana being nearly twenty-eight years old. He wished that she would finally grow up and act like the adult she was supposed to.

“Papa, it’s Eve.” Oksana whined petulantly, trying to get her papa to feel sorry for her.

“Who?” Konstantin asked.

“The curly haired Asian from M15.” Oksana said in a clipped manner, annoyed that Konstantin was asking too many questions. Konstantin’s eyes went wide with surprise when Oksana revealed that the person who rejected her pastry was Eve Polastri. Eve was a former MI6 co-worker whom Konstantin enjoyed working with her in London.

“Eve Polastri! Wait, you like her.” Konstantin beamed with delight but he soon realised that his daughter was interested in the agent. Oh, this was bad news to him. Eve was nearly in her mid-40s when Oksana was still in her twenties.

“Yes, Papa and she said no to my vatroshka.” Oksana whined petulantly once again, trying to get her papa to feel sorry for her but Konstantin was getting more annoyed by the second.

“Oh my, the horror!” Konstantin said sarcastically but Oksana was becoming more immature with him about the Eve subject. He could see that his daughter liked Eve.

“Papa, this is about me. She hurt my feelings.” Oksana whined until Konstantin let out an annoyed puff of air and he got up from the couch. He looked at Oksana who was pouting like a six year old child, he really wanted to roll his eyes at the sight of her but he just sighed.

“Oksana, stop your childishness. I am sure Eve didn’t mean to reject your vatroshka as I know her.” Konstantin said in a firm tone and had added the fact that he knew Eve. Oksana sat up straight away after she heard that her papa had known Eve and she wanted to hear more about her.

“You know her?” Her honey brown eyes looked at her papa as she asked him. Konstantin could swear that Oksana was like a puppy dog when she was interested in knowing something. That something was now Eve.

“Yes,” Konstantin drawled out to make Oksana more eager. He could see that Oksana was going to lap up the information about Eve but he was going to be limited on what he was going to tell her.

“Tell me.” Oksana begged with doe-like eyes looking up at Konstantin from the couch. She wanted to know everything about Eve and she wanted to be the one to make her smile.

“Eve had a husband.” Konstantin said but Oksana fell silent at the admission that Eve had an husband.

“Oh.” Oksana choked out after not realising that she had held her breath in anticipation.

“He is dead so that could be why she said no to your damned pastry.” Konstantin bluntly said as he saw that Oksana was disappointed with his answer.

“Thank you very much for your help, Papa.” Oksana drawled uninterested, pouting and folding her arms in the process. She was disappointed that Konstantin didn’t give her information about Eve that were more than the fact that she was an widow.

“No Villanelle, you must let Eve come to you instead of you coming to her. Give her space, that is all I am saying.” Konstantin said matter of factly as he gave Oksana advice about Eve and it worked.

“How?”

“If she comes into Russian Delights, do not approach her. She does not like that.” The burly Russian boomed in his deep Russian accent and Oksana looked at the ground, thinking about Eve and what she liked.

“I must be off now, I must collect Irina from school. Go back to Russian Delights and let Vasily go home.” Konstantin said as he looked at his watch and it was the afternoon already so he had to go get Irina from school.

“My Villanelle, it will be alright. Eve will come to you soon.” He said as he looked into his eldest daughter’s eyes and cupped her face in his hands before hugging her. Oksana melted into her papa’s arms. Papa was everything to the woman and she was forever grateful to him as he rescued her from an harsh criminal world in Russia that claimed her mother.

“Bye Papa.” Oksana whispered before breaking away to let her papa to do what he needed to do.

Eve avoided Russian Delights and made her own coffee in the staff kitchen but it wasn’t good as Irina’s coffee. She felt very guilty about what she did to Oksana. She knew it was unintentional and she was being a dumb idiot who was blind to see that Oksana was doing a nice thing for her.

It was the past trauma that stopped Eve from seeing that Oksana was being a good person to her. Before Niko died, her and Niko were close to getting a divorce but they had been trying hard to save their marriage. Several months later, Niko and Eve had a massive fight and Niko went back to Poland until three days later, Eve got the fateful phone call. Niko had lost his life when a car hit him in Warsaw.

Niko had been loving and caring towards Eve in their first five years of their marriage until their relationship soured and they fought all the time until the Polish man had found Gemma. Eve was dismayed that Niko had cheated on her with the school assistant. On top of it, Carolyn had sacked her from an investigation when she punched the person of interest in the face, causing a broken nose. Ever since, Eve always built up walls around herself as protection when people try and do nice things for her like breakfast pastry.

While Eve kicked herself over the pastry incident, Kat wasted no time in letting everyone know in Forensic Psychology that she rejected the Russian Delight’s owner’s pastry. Great, everyone knew what she did to Oksana and Eve hated it.

She focused on looking at crime scenes of dead bodies to push away thoughts of the beautiful Russian woman who was probably crying her eyes out. Images of a teary Oksana floated into Eve’s mind, further distracting her from her important job of identifying the mindsets of domestic criminals.

She decided to write the owner a short note telling her that she was sorry as an olive branch to make peace with her. She was truly terrible with verbally apologising to people.

Thankfully, it was nearly four pm which was the finish time for Eve. She was anxious as she wanted to apologise to Oksana and have a fresh start with him. When four pm arrived, Eve quickly got her stuff and left the building.

Eve got to the entrance of the deli, the place was quiet as it was usual for the time of the day. She saw Oksana wiping down the tables. Oksana was wearing a black turtleneck sweater with pleated trousers that were possibly more than Eve’s wage but Eve gulped as she saw how the trousers shaped Oksana’s delightful arse. Her heart was picking up its beat as Eve put her hand on the glass door that belonged to Russian Delights before pushing it open.

Oksana turned around and saw that Eve had entered Russian Delights. She saw a look on Eve’s face that said that she was sorry for rejecting the pastry before she watched Eve place a small folded paper onto the counter. Oksana nearly fell back in surprise and had to steady herself against the table as she watched Eve move from the counter to browse the shelves full of imported Russian food.

Feeling Oksana’s honey-brown doe-like eyes on her in the thick silence, Eve stopped moving and went back to the counter where the note was. She picked it up and faced Oksana.

“Here’s the olive branch?” Eve said unsure if Oksana knew the meaning but she said it anyway. She left Russian Delights after placing the note back onto the counter without saying any more to Oksana.

Eve’s heart was less heavy now as she knew that she attempted to broker the peace between them. She was now hopeful that Oksana would accept her apology in written form.

Atleast Eve had apologised, that’s all what mattered in the moment. 


End file.
